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My name is R.T. Kaelin. I am an indie fantasy author and a long time, mostly lurking Kossack. To date, I have written and published two epic fantasy novels (both of which have an average 4.6/5 star rating at Amazon and have hovered in the top 100 bestselling for Historical Fantasy) as well as over a dozen short stories. I am in the process of selecting an agent so I am not sure how much longer the ‘indie’ modifier will apply.
In the days immediately following Hurricane Sandy, it was impossible to escape the horrific, heart-wrenching images coming out of the northeast. I watched the coverage and knew I wanted to help. But how?
Again, I’m indie, which basically means I have a ‘real’ day job, one that I cannot abandon to physically go and help those in need. I have a family. Food needs to go on the table, mortgage needs paid, and so on. I thought about giving money as I have in the past after other disasters, but that somehow seemed inadequate. “Sorry your home is gone. Here’s fifty dollars.” I wanted to do more.
Then, inspiration struck. The idea started off as many do, small and flimsily constructed. Simply put, it was, “Hey, I wonder if I could get some authors to donate a short story so I could put together an anthology and donate the proceeds to the relief efforts?”
To gauge interest, I sent a quick email to a collection of about twenty authors with whom I have come to know in the past couple years. Their response was an emphatic yes.
They emailed friends and acquaintances and, soon, messages began flooding my inbox. Within a week, I had thirty committed authors, a couple of editors, and an illustrator all volunteering their efforts. A week later, I had forty authors. And more than a few of the names in the ‘From’ spot made my eyes open wide.
For one: Robert Silverberg.
Yup. The Robert Silverberg. You know, the Hugo and Nebula Award winner and inductee to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
Oh, and Marion Zimmer Bradley, author of Mists of Avalon and Locus Award winner. She is…what’s a word for bigger than a legend? Whatever it is, she’s that. The MZB Literary Trust contacted me and offered to donate one of her stories.
And then there was Elizabeth Bear. And Michael J. Sullivan, Mark Lawrence, Bradley P. Beaulieu, Philip Athans, Adrian Tchaikovsky, andâoh, heck, join me below the orange nebula for the full list along with more details.
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